Eganville Recreation Manager, Kevin McGrath, left, presented the Oscar Plotz-Willis Freitag Memorial
Trophy to the Calver Lumber’s Steve Purdie after their 4-2 win Friday night.

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Eganville – The Calver Lumber hockey team continued its dominance in the Eganville Hockey League (EHL) Friday night, capturing its 10th straight league title with a 4-2 win over the Killaloe Kings.

There was a good crowd present for what was undeniably the most entertaining game in the best-of-five championship final for the Oscar Plotz-Willis Freitag Memorial Trophy, which Calver won in four games. The game featured numerous scoring chances, end-to-end action and stellar goaltending by Richard Barr of the Lumber and the Kings’ Tyler Kauffeldt.

Calver came out hard looking to take the early lead, with Kauffeldt rejecting good scoring chances by Nathan Clouthier and Scott Conroy. Killaloe responded shortly after, breaking the ice with a Dylan Kuehl tally with 8:12 to play in the first. Ethan Pegg and Sam Klawitter had the helpers.

Klawitter had a chance to extend the lead three minutes later, but Teddy Suckow made a big defensive play to thwart his scoring chance. Calver’s Darcy Findlay evened the score with 4:07 left while the team was on the power play. Findlay fired a laser of a snapshot into the top corner on Kauffeldt’s glove side to knot the score. Colin Bradbury and Scott Conroy had assists. Less than a minute later, Findlay took a drop pass from Conroy and sent a low shot on net that eluded Kauffeldt for a 2-1 lead.

The Kings went on a 5-on-3 power play for 44 seconds but generated no good scoring chances. The second started with the Kings having one minute left in the powerplay, which quickly turned into another 5-on-3 situation. This time, Barr was forced to make a big pad save on a Ryan Lepine shot that looked like a sure-tying goal.

Two minutes later, Calver stretched its lead to 3-1 as Matt Johnson tipped a Braden Couturier pass by Kauffeldt with 11:56 remaining in the frame. Killaloe pressed hard to get back in the game, with Barr rejecting two good scoring chances from Kuehl and another from Kelly Summers.

The Kings’ persistence finally paid off with 1:25 to go while the team was enjoying another man advantage. Ryan Lepine fired a shot on net and Jack Shulist fired the rebound into the gaping cage as Barr tried valiantly to get across the net.

Killaloe had another power play early in the third, but the Calver penalty-killers negated any good scoring chances. Calver pushed to score an insurance goal, with Kaufeldt keeping his team close with saves on Bradbury, Conroy and Findlay.

Pegg had a great chance to tie the game as he broke in alone at the 5:22 mark but his shot rang off the post and the score remained 3-2. The Kings pulled their goalie with 1:37 to play and Riley Poirier sealed the win with an end-to-end shot that found the centre of the net with 44 seconds to play.

Calver had eight of the 11 penalties called in the game. With captain Steve Gilchrist away in Sri Lanka on work, veteran Danby Suckow shared his thoughts on another successful season with the Leader afterwards. (Suckow, Gilchrist, and Steve Purdie have been with the squad for 15 years)

“We say this every year, ‘It never gets old,’” he noted. “Every year it means more and more to the core members of the team who have been here for the majority of the time.

“And that’s what it takes to win, a core group of guys, and the commitment to come out every Friday night and battle and fight to win,” he added. “And to do it for 10 straight years makes it that much better.”

Aside from the core group, Suckow said they were fortunate to be able to add Darcy Findlay to the team this year.

“His leadership on and off the ice . . . he scored big goals when it mattered most and he was a real key member of the championship this year,” he explained.

Suckow said Findlay played for several years with Cornwall in the Central Hockey League and also played Division 1 hockey in the States. He thanked goalies Danny McGrath, and Barr, who played nets for them in the play-offs due to their two goalies being injured.

“Our main man (Matt Schroeder), was our best player, and he’s battling some health issues, so we had to get other guys to step in,” he said. “Everyone else had to step their games up as well, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re such a great team.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity over the last 15 seasons and we still find a way to win, no matter what,” he continued.

Suckow said the last few years the team had struggled to score goals in the playoffs but turned it around this year. Although the championship win had just occurred, Suckow did not hesitate when asked if Calver would be back to defend its title in 2025/2026.

“We’ve got two diamond-in-the-rough prospects coming up the pipeline and we’re going to be better than ever next season,” he remarked.

When asked if he had heard that the Barry’s Bay Bulls and Calabogie entries may not be back next season, he said he quit listening to the rumour mills years ago.

“Every team hits that point where the guys are in their thirties, and they’re married, have kids, are coaching their kids, and have other priorities. Every team hits that transition but I’m sure they’ll pick up some new, younger talent and find their way. I think the league has a bright future.”

Suckow thanked Drew Calver, the team manager, and the Calver family for its continuing sponsorship over the years.

“It’s been something special for them to believe in us and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts,” he commented. “And I thank Steve Gilchrist for creating this team. If it wasn’t for him, none of us would be here.

“And I want to thank the Eganville Leader for their support,” he added. “And we appreciate everyone coming out, paying the toll, and supporting the league. It wouldn’t be what it is without them.”

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Kings’ coach Chris (Chummy) Gienow gave full credit to their opponents for the win.

“We knew it was going to be a tough hockey game,” he said. “That’s an amazing team over there. “What they’ve done . . . they’re a great bunch of guys,” he added. “I’ve got so much respect for that team.”

Despite the loss, he said his team worked extremely hard to make the game the thriller it was.

“Our guys threw everything but the kitchen sink at them. The way our young guys moved the puck around, it was awesome.”

Gienow said the future looks bright for the Kings, noting the EHL is the best men’s league in the Ottawa Valley. He cautioned, however, that most players play in other leagues and the EHL is the only one with “drama” at playoff time.

“Things have got to change, or there’s not going to be a league. Every league has their rules and there’s accountability, and people follow the rules,” he continued. “There’s just no accountability with game sheets and games played. Those are really easy things to solve and we shouldn’t be dealing with that s*** in the play-offs.”

He said he too had heard the rumours about Barry’s Bay and Calabogie, adding the Bulls situation may be attributed to players ageing, while he believes the Calabogie situation may very well have to deal with the “drama” he mentioned earlier.